Second of three editorials
According to Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York has the most aggressive climate goals in the nation. Its climate plan, made law in 2019, promotes cleaner air and water as it reduces greenhouse gas emissions. But unless the state takes strong action to actually reach its goals, naysayers will be right when they say such aspirations are noble but unrealistic.
Legislation is a big part of it. There are bills before lawmakers now that will push New York’s goals forward. Other, related legislation goes after issues that are compromising the state’s environment, with adverse effects on residents’ health.
Drowning in plastic
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One of the most visible and abhorrent of these is plastic pollution. The failure of plastic recycling is well documented, with the U.S. recycling rate for all plastic standing at 6%. In Buffalo, a dense mulch of plastic shards lines local waterways – 12,000 pieces of plastic were picked up in one day during Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper’s 2024 Spring Sweep. Waterkeeper reports that 86% of the litter collected during the sweep is plastic.
Less visible are the microplastics that have made their way into area watersheds and are being consumed by aquatic creatures as well as humans. These tiny particles are associated with a wide range of adverse health effects, including reproductive dysfunction, inflammation of the intestine and neurotoxic harm.
New York’s proposed Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, now advancing in both Senate and Assembly, would require a 50% reduction in plastic packaging waste in 12 years. Importantly, the onus would be on manufacturers to comply by avoiding single-use plastic. This strategy rightly attacks the problem at its source, acknowledging that plastics recycling is a disaster and that cutting off the flow of single-use plastics into the marketplace is an obvious and logical next step.
With waste of all kinds the fourth largest contributor to greenhouse emissions, a significant reduction in plastic waste will help the state reach its climate goals. It will also save local taxpayers money. As it stands now, the financial burden of single-use plastic rests solely on the budgets of the municipalities who must dispose of it, not the companies that produce it.
Four states – Maine, Oregon, Colorado and California – have passed their own versions of the packaging bill. New York should be next.
A new Superfund
Another bill attacks greenhouse gas emissions at their acknowledged source: fossil fuel producers.
The sponsors of the Climate Change Superfund Act (A.3351/S.2129), Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and state Sen. Liz Krueger, think that the entities largely responsible for greenhouse gas-related global warming – oil and gas producers – should help pay the costs of climate disruption. This could include paying for infrastructure upgrades to protect against rising sea levels, upgrading stormwater drainage and sewage treatment systems, preparing the power grid for severe weather, and creating systems to protect people from extreme heat and other climate resilience projects throughout the state.
This bill has passed the Senate and is advancing in the Assembly. Other states are working on similar Superfund legislation.
Easing the transition
The NY HEAT Act (S2016A/A4952) has passed the Senate and Hochul has supported key provisions of it. The hold-up is in the Assembly. NY HEAT would help move New Yorkers away from fossil fuels by taking natural gas infrastructure off autopilot. Utilities are obliged to supply hook-ups to anyone within 100 feet of a main line, with the costs – which would become higher as fewer households use gas – passed along to ratepayers.
This obligation is at obvious cross purposes with the state’s goals of weaning itself off fossil fuels and a setback to neighborhoods wishing to switch to renewables. NY HEAT legislation would remove the obligation as well as cap energy bills at 6 percent of household income. That, itself, presents economic and production hurdles that will need to be managed, but it is self-evident that New York needs to promote the use of energy that is both clean and affordable.
Without productive action, aspirational goals remain just that. These bills help make the goals reality.
What’s your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
Tags
- Plastic Pollution
- Climate Change
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- Recycling
- Microplastics
- Societal Collapse
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- Environment
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- Environmental Issues
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